10 Weeks in Europe as Retirees

Congratulations on your retirements! I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trip tremendously. I do have one caution for you. I see that you will be returning your car in a different country than where you pick it up. I presume you have checked costs for this, as in most cases returning a car in a different country can be costly.

Several issues to take care of:
1. Get International Drivers Permits that act as certified translation of you drivers licenses, which you must bring as well. Cheap and easy at AAA.
2. You will need to purchase vignette stickers for your windshield as you enter Switzerland and Austria.
3. Bone up on the subject of ZTL's in Italian cities and towns. Don't want to hear any posts from you shocked at the number of tickets filling your mailbox 6 months after you get home.
4. Obey speed limits as they use robo cams to issue speeding tickets.
5. Cars and European cities don't go together. Park it when you arrive and start it up again when you leave town. Expect to pay for parking. When heading to Paris, get any side trips you were planning like Mont St Michel or Normandy out of the way before you hit town and turn the car in as soon as you arrive. A car in Paris is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

No experience with European rental cars, but one thing I know from reading sad tales of woe (including some reports of theft from cars in the US): You absolutely must have nothing visible inside your car when you park it. And you mustn't transfer things to the trunk after you arrive at the place where you intend to park. Personally, I'd go a step farther on days when I was switching hotels and had all my stuff with me: I'd put any valuable electronic gear in a purse or tote that I would carry into every sightseeing attraction and restaurant along the way. I'd do the same with at least a week's supply of prescription meds; carrying the whole supply would be better. If someone steals your clothes, it's a royal pain, but you can probably buy cheap replacements--except for shoes; if someone steals your tablet computer, you're out a lot of money (plus probably time shopping for a replacement); if someone steals your medication, you'll get to practice your linguistic skills in a medical setting.

Speaking of medicines: I'm now 66 and have been taking summer-long trips for the last three years. I keep picking up colds/respiratory things, much more frequently than I do at home. Perhaps there are different germs on the other side of the pond. Other travelers have issues with gastro-intestinal issues. Some over-the-counter meds we're used to keeping on hand are not available in Europe. They may have something equally effective, but you won't know what that is, and the pharmacist won't know what sort of thing has worked for you in the past.

For example, do not count on buying high-zinc throat lozenges (like Cold-eeze) in Europe. You won't find them. I've read that Pepto-Bismol is not available, either. Think about what you have in your medicine cabinet other than basic painkillers, and consider taking a fair quantity with you. I keep upping the number of zinc lozenges I pack, but I keep running out before the end of my trip.

Although I believe it's available everywhere, I've decided to carry some ibuprofen with me since I have a habit of spraining ankles. Some basic painkillers are pretty cheap in some countries, but I paid over 0.50 euros per pill for acetaminophen (Tylenol) once.

Besides Paris, what cities do you plan to visit on the continent? Maybe you'd get some tips on seasonal events/festivals if we knew.

Some good advice on driving in Germany and German-speaking countries (see related pages at bottom as well.)
https://www.german-way.com/travel-and-tourism/driving-in-europe/driving/

Also:
https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/german-driving-laws/

The countries you are visiting are vastly different in terms of transportation infrastructure. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland tend to be covered with rail lines - by car, you'll often find yourselves waiting at railroad crossings on secondary roads in these countries. The big car advantage for G-A-S is not so much that you can go where trains don't go, but MORE that you can book rooms or apartments in tiny hamlets in the boondocks if you wish - which you may want or NEED to do since you are not booking lodging in advance. As Sam has already pointed out, for stays in real cities, car travel makes less sense in these countries, and depending on which cities you'll be visiting, the same is generally true for Italy, Spain and France. But for the under-served rural areas in I-S-F, I would definitely want a car.

Congratulations on planning your first post-retirement trip! You have picked a great time to start in September, with fewer other tourists than in the summer. By the end of your 10 weeks, you may find yourselves buying warmer layers of clothing for London.

Don't forget to arrange for medical and evacuation insurance. If you will have retiree medical coverage from your former employers, make sure you know what is covered overseas.

rbolosan what a great way to start retirement. A few questions. What kind of numbers did you come up with for rental car versus rail? Did you include fuel and parking costs? Was the Eurail Pass the only rail pass option you considered? There are many others, especially single country passes that you could string together, if flexibility is a must. Did you consider taking the train between countries (buying discount advance purchase tickets), and renting cars when you get to a base city? There are many places you might be considering visiting where a car would be a disadvantage.

Hi,

Great...plan that trip for 10 weeks. My first trip after retiring was just shy of 10 weeks, 67 days, solo, ... great, right in heart of summer from early June to 10 August, focusing on four countries, France, Austria, Germany, England, using rail passes

If you are taking prescription meds, be sure to count them accurately to be well supplied, at least 2 days beyond the duration of the trip.

Unless you want to stick to big cities, I'd go ahead with the car rental for the flexibility, especially in rural areas and smaller cities. But it will cost more to drop it off in a country other than where you got it.

September is the busiest month in Paris because of trade shows as well as tourism. You might want to get a hotel reservation there well in advance, like this spring. There are innumerable threads on this board about Paris hotels, and if you want to start a new one you'll hear from a great many well intentioned, and often well informed, people.

Congrats on retirement and your intrepid plans. I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful time!

For those concerned about drop fees for starting in Germany and ending in France, I don't know anbout this but I believe they are leasing rather than renting. So maybe it is different terms.

Hard to get from Italy to Spain without going through France, so you will have two opportunities to explore France.

Assuming that you are spending c 10 days in the UK after 10 nights in Paris, that leaves c 7 weeks, during which time, you anticipate visiting 6 countries, which is going to involve driving many, many hours. If you want to spend between 3 and 10 nights at each base, you aren't going to see many bases in each country. Having a car in most cities in Europe is much more difficult than in the cities I have stayed in the USA, as parking is more difficult. Staying in smaller towns and in rural places is easier with a car. If you just want to see cities, use trains.

Try some dummy route planning based on where you would like to visit. If using Google Maps, add 30% to their timings as they under estimate. You may find that trying to fit in say Italy and Spain is covering too wide an area. I spent 4 weeks last June just covering western France, moving on every 4-7 days without running out of things to do in each location.

There are various school holidays in Europe round about the 3rd and last week of October, so accommodation may be in shorter supply at this time and may need to be booked in advance.

With a 10 week trip, you need to pace yourselves and have the odd free day just to recharge your batteries. Enjoy your trip.

Jennifer's thinking about this the same way I am: a great deal of territory and not very many days per country. Most tourists who do this see Vienna in Austria, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, etc. If that's what you're thinking, a car is really not a good idea at all. It will generally be a lot slower than trains between major cities, and then there's the parking issue.

Although you've seemingly already taken care of the car thing, the free download, What You Should Know About Renting a Car in Europe 2018 from Gemut.com provides lots of other info on driving in Europe. The second page is a good Table of Contents. As others have said, Googling something like "driving in country name" will also give you some pointers.

Take to heart the ticket warnings people have mentioned. Hope that any tickets you get are from France. Easy to understand and easy to pay by credit card online with even an English website. Our only other ticket was from Basel for going over the speed limit by 3kmph. It took almost 3 years to get to us. So much for Swiss efficiency. Electronic transfer was the only way to pay. The cost of the transfer was more than the fine.

We loved driving (Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands). You probably will, too. But remember that beyond the rental cost, you will have to feed the car, pay tolls, buy vignettes and pay to park in many places. I hope you don't get any tickets, but if you do, just add them to your transportation cost.

Edited to add: although far from perfect, I like to use Rome2rio to get a hint of how far places are from each other and a comparison of ways to get there, including by car.

Ten weeks seems a long time but quickly disappears. For example ...
2 weeks in Germany - Berlin, Rhine, Bavaria
1 week in Austria - Vienna, Salzburg
1 week in Switzerland - Luzern, Berner Oberland
2 weeks in Italy - Venice, Tuscany, Rome
2 weeks in Spain - Andalusia, Madrid, Barcelona
2 weeks in France - Cote d’Azur, Provence, Paris

Some responders may not be aware of the differences between the car "lease" buy-back program that you're doing (operated through France) and a regular car rental (which usually does have high fees to pick up and drop off in different countries).

On my first trip to the Continent, I made the same choice you did of a long-term car lease over rail pass, and it was a great experience. However, I probably did not factor in or even count up the cost of fuel (covering more countries). Some things you don't really want to know.

Be most careful in Italy about not driving into any area posted as a Zona Traffico Limitata and in not exceeding the speed limit; both are monitored by very sensitive cameras. You'll be better off parking outside big cities like Rome and Florence (if going there), which have a lot of traffic rules, as well as a lot of traffic, and a number of multi-lane streets without lane markings. Rick's guidebooks tend to include parking suggestions.

It sounds like you're allowing enough flexibility to relax occasionally. Rick has long suggested that every seventh day be a "vacation from your vacation," and that can be even more relevant on a longer trip. It's nice that your "home-base" car has room in the trunk for some things that don't have to come into the hotel every night, like a bag of extra shoes, stack of guidebooks for other countries, or case of your favorite beverage.

Key concepts: parking costs; no traffic zones; high gasoline costs; drop fees. Don't get me wrong, there are many times a car would be nice to have in Europe. But those are for smaller more rural places not easily reached by train or bus. In Florence, Rome, Venice, Barcelonia, Sevilla, Madrid, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, a car is an expensive albatross. I see you are wisely getting rid on the car for Paris and London.

What I suggest is that you take the train from big city to big city and through Switzerland, and to tourist Meccas on the train lines like Salztburg.

Rent a car for a week, two weeks or less at a time to do The Rhine, Tuscany (but not Florence, Siena, or Pisa), the hill towns in Andalusia, southern France and either East or west France on your way to Paris.

A logical route might go like this:

Frankfurt rent car.
Rhine. Return car in Munich
Salztburg.
Switzerland by train.
Venice
Florence.
Rent car for rural Tuscany with car return in Siena or Orvieto .
Rome.
Fly to Malaga, Granada, or Seville
Rent car for hill towns.
Train for Seville, Granada and/or Cordoba
Madrid,
Barcelona
Rent car just inside France and return it at Paris.
London
Home

Given that you have only ten weeks for a large swath of Europe, you may want to eliminate some stops. I applaud your desire to stay for at least 3 nights at every stop. You will actually see more and be more relaxed.

Just a quick note that you would not need a vignette for Switzerland if you avoid driving on Swiss motorways.

I leased a car from Renault several years ago for an extended visit. It was a positive experience. No complaints.

Having leased a car and driven from Amsterdam to Rome, here's a couple thoughts.

Nothing is worse than having your car in a city. You have to find a secure spot to park it where it will be in one piece when you get back. Your lodging can help you with this but still expect to add around 50 euro for parking (unless you find an apartment with parking).

A car is really great for making stops along the way between nights/cities. You have the freedom to start and stop when you want. If you aren't planning on intermediate stops, you may be better off with trains.

I used to always bring a GPS, now I use my smart phone. I downloaded Co Pilot maps for Europe before leaving home and I can now use it to navigate without data as long as I search when I have WiFi.

We lived in Augsburg, Germany for four years and drove all over Central Europe back in the late 80s, early 90s. Traffic can be a big issue in the large cities. Driving on the Autobahn is very different, you must learn to move to the right lane when overtaken by a faster vehicle in the left lane. If they hit you from behind, it is your fault.

Suggest renting a car with Nav system or GPS, or have a cell phone with google maps. Also, be aware that gas is about 3-4 times what it cost in the USA. Consider renting a diesel car.

For Germany, don't miss the Romantic Road in Southern Germany. Munich, Garmisch, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg etc.
Strassbourg, France and Friberg and Triberg Germany in the Black Forrest.

The Loire Valley of France is great, as are the Rhone River Valley leading to the French Riveria. Normandy is wonderful if you like WWII history and the famous Bayeux Tapestry.

My thinking is the same as Jen's (from Portland). If you are planning to spend most of your time in the cities, having a car is worse than useless, because you have to pay for a place to keep it and you won't need it or want it. I've driven in Spain, France and Italy and the only time I've had a car is for areas where I wanted to stick almost entirely to villages and an occasional small town. For the rest, the trains are faster and more comfortable. Even for Hungary, it was easier and cheaper to use the slow trains and buses to visit smaller towns. You wrote: The idea is to stay in a city/town from 3 to 10 days which sounds to me like you are planning to base in major cities, not in remote villages. That means day trips by car - driving in and out of city centers which means hours of traffic and major expenses for gas and parking - or staying on the outskirts of the city and then having to commute to the center by public transportation to sightsee or to have dinner.